Republicans just can’t quit Big Lie
LANSING – Today Michigan labor leaders representing hundreds of thousands of working people across Michigan spoke out against bills that passed the Senate in a party line vote this morning. These bills would ban the ability of voters to sign an affidavit if they forget their photo ID when they go to vote, an option exercised in 82 of Michigan’s counties in November’s elections.
“We should be following best practices supported by bipartisan clerks to promote and support voting options, but instead Republicans are adopting these radical new restrictions on voting rights,” said Ron Bieber, President of the Michigan AFL-CIO. “These bills won’t do a thing to improve the security of Michigan’s elections, because their supporters don’t care about security. They care about promoting the Big Lie and Donald Trump’s egotistical refusal to admit that he lost the election.”
“In 2018, two-thirds of Michigan voters voted to amend our state constitution to explicitly and affirmatively protect our right to vote without interference from radical politicians in gerrymandered districts,” said E. Joseph Miller, Business Agent with IATSE Local 38. “These direct attacks on that sacred right to vote are illegal and wrong.”
“Michigan voters spoke LOUD AND CLEAR in 2018 when we overwhelmingly passed a ballot initiative to make it easier to vote, not harder. Yet, once again, legislative Republicans thumb their nose at the will of the people. Instead of focusing on real issues that matter to Michigan’s working families, they’d rather appease their Trump-worshipping base and perpetuate the ‘Big Lie’ that the election was stolen from them,” said said Lawrence A. Roehrig, President of AFSCME Council 25. “Any party so fixated on ensuring fewer people can vote must know they cannot win the war of ideas and will face even more devastating losses than they have the last two election cycles. We look forward to Governor Whitmer’s veto of this disastrous legislation.”
These bills come as Michigan Republican leaders continue to spread daily misinformation about last November’s election, which was safely and securely run by more than 1,600 county and local elections officials, making it the single most decentralized state elections system in the country.
